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Towing Boat East to West Coast - Take I-40 or I-10

I have accepted a job in Los Angeles and will be driving from DC to LA. I will be leaving in about 10 days (Feb 11) and plan on driving about 500 miles per day. I will be towing an 18 ft bowrider boat.

My current plan is to take I-81 to I-40 to Little Rock, Arkansas. From there, I'm trying to decide whether to take I-40 all the way or to take I-30 to Dallas and then I-20 to El Paso and then take I-10 the rest of the way.

I'm thinking that I-10 will be flatter which will make the towing easier and it will also keep me away from snow problems at Albuquerque and Flagstaff. The I-10 route is about 100 miles longer though.

Which route (I-40 or I-40) is better in the winter when towing a boat from Washington DC to LA.

Shortest is usually the best in winter

Originally Posted by davehpotter

I have accepted a job in Los Angeles and will be driving from DC to LA.

Congratulations on the new job and welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum!

My current plan is to take I-81 to I-40 to Little Rock, Arkansas. From there, I'm trying to decide whether to take I-40 all the way or to take I-30 to Dallas and then I-20 to El Paso and then take I-10 the rest of the way.

Arizona and New Mexico have seen record snowfall this year and so, as you know, I-40 has been hammered from ice and snow. However, the ice also extended into southern Texas and so I-10 is hardly immune. The only way to make such a decision is to listen to weather forecasts for the next 24 hours and make your best decision then. But if it were me, towing a trailer, I would alway opt for the shortest route in winter driving conditions.